WHILE Pakistan argues with itself, India’s scripts, shoots and streams steadily win the narrative war. Indian films, web series and OTT platforms are no longer operating merely as entertainment industries. Over the last decade, they have increasingly functioned as instruments of narrative power, shaping perceptions about Pakistan across regional and global audiences. From Uri: The Surgical Strike and Mission Majnu to The Kashmir Files, The Tashkent Files, IC 814: The Kandahar Hijack, Family Man, Bard of Blood and now the latest Dhurandhar, a familiar pattern persists.

Pakistan is almost always the antagonist. Its institutions are portrayed as shadowy, hostile or irrational, its society reduced to stereotypes and complex regional histories flattened into emotionally charged nationalist scripts. This pattern is not incidental. From a mass communication perspective, it fits squarely within framing theory. What audiences repeatedly see determines how they interpret reality. Pakistan is framed through threat, suspicion and conspiracy, while Indian intelligence and military agencies are shown as heroic, restrained and morally justified. Over time, repetition turns representation into assumed truth.

OTT platforms have dramatically intensified this process. Unlike traditional cinema, global streaming services bypass borders, regulators and diplomatic sensitivities. Content........

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